Indians optimistic after wild weekend

Southeast Missouri State University's first win of the season -- 30-17 over visiting Eastern Illinois on Saturday -- wasn't the only thing that has lifted the Indians' spirits in a big way.

Also giving the Indians a major shot in the arm is what transpired around the rest of the Ohio Valley Conference on a wild weekend that sent what most people figured would be an unpredictable league race into even more of a tizzy.

When all the dust had cleared after the second week of OVC play, seven of the nine team -- including Southeast -- were tied for second place with 1-1 records. Only Tennessee State (1-0) does not have a loss and only Eastern Illinois (0-1) does not have a win.

So as the 1-5 Indians practice during their open week -- they return to action Oct. 18 at Eastern Kentucky -- they know they again basically have as good a chance of capturing the league title as anybody.

"All of a sudden we went from the outhouse to the back of the penthouse with everybody else," Southeast coach Tim Billings said. "Now things are basically even again. It's exciting for everybody in the league and good for us, no doubt."

After the preseason OVC favorite Indians lost their conference opener at Samford, things were not looking very good even though it was still so early in the league season. Now things are looking a lot better.

"It was crazy over the weekend," defensive end Ryan Roth said. "We won, then we saw what happened with the other teams in the conference and it picked everybody up."

Not that anybody thought a team would run through this year's OVC without a loss, but having so many teams already with one defeat means that the Indians once again have their destiny in their hands. If they don't lose again -- a tall order but certainly not improbable -- they can do no worse than tie for first place.

"The way the conference is shaping up this year, if we keep winning, we'll be right in there," quarterback Jack Tomco said.

Said cornerback Dimitri Patterson, "There's no team left on our schedule we can't beat. We can still win the conference."

Billings cautioned that the Indians still have to improve considerably or it won't matter what happens around the rest of the OVC.

"We have to get a lot better. We're not good enough to win this league right now," he said.

Billings plans to use this week's open date to try and improve on various parts of the Indians' game. Southeast practiced Monday and Tuesday and will work out today and Thursday before having Friday and Saturday off.

Noteworthy

Billings, who has been hobbled all season by a bad knee that has forced him to sit upstairs in the coaches' box some during recently games, had arthroscopic surgery Monday.

"It went great," Billings said. "I've been in bad pain the last six weeks and it felt so much better even right after the surgery. I could barely stand on the sidelines."

Tight end Ray Goodson is tied for third in the OVC in receptions with 33. Chris NesSmith is ninth with 25.

After Saturday's big performance that featured a crucial 83-yard boot, freshman David Simonhoff has moved up to third in the OVC in punting with a 41-yard average.

Defensively, linebacker O.J. Turner is fourth in the conference in tackles with an average of eight per game. Linebacker Ricky Farmer leads the league in fumble recoveries with three and is ninth in tackles with 7.5 a contest. Turner and safety Anthony Lumpkin are tied for second with two fumble recoveries.